Back in November, Husband and I went to Designer Con. It was our second time attending, but the last time was right before I got I sick in 2016. It’s a really fun convention that anyone in the area should attend.

The differences between Anaheim and Pasadena

When we went in 2016 – the con was held in Pasadena and took over the whole convention center. The original venue was already too small; the booths seemed jammed together and right on top of one another. The autograph queues took up a ton of room with the “Big Company” booths squished into one hall and all the independent artists smooshed together in another hall with a clear dividing corridor between them.  

In Anaheim, the con had PLENTY of room and the larger companies were separated from the independent artists, it didn’t feel so weirdly and formally separated. There was a lot of ground to cover but if you have been to Anime Expo, or any other convention at this location, take the same strategy and go slowly row by row. 

The Good Parts of Designer Con

There were a lot of artists with very high skills levels. We saw some AMAZING art and really good work at this convention. Seeing new artists work and finding new favorites is a great way to spend the weekend. Be prepared to empty your bank account – I wanted to buy everything.

There were lots of local street artist which was really cool to see. I got to see some of their work not on a wall and in 3D. They had a wide variety of local art styles, which was nice to see.

The location was roomy. I never felt super crowded or uncomfortable at any point in the weekend.  All the booths were a decent size so everyone got to spread their work out unless they just wanted to have a ton of stuff on display. 

Fair Use gets stretched really thin here – which is fun as a fan but see the next section.  There were a lot of great memories mixed with a new take on the subject in a new medium.

It’s not a very expensive weekend; the tickets are reasonable for a couple for the weekend. It cost $99 for two adult tickets for both days of the convention.

The bad parts of Designer Con

A lot of the same types of artists were grouped together, I understand why but it made the layout feel repetitive and samey. I needed to focus a lot at what I was seeing because sections would be seem too similar. I would have liked the artists booths to be more spread out and varied. 

The artist curation needs a little more variation too. While I appreciate getting to see some artists from previous years, I wish there were even more new artists. The previous year’s artists bring in ticket sales, but you never know who could also be the next big thing.

Fair Use is stretched really thin at this convention. The work was good, but there was a lot of art that would be tossed out for infringement at other conventions or relegated to the tiny slots in artists alley.  

For us, Pasadena was a better location because we live close by and the parking is not very expensive in the area. Anaheim is so far away and, because of Disneyland, is very expensive to park anywhere you go in town and you have to walk a fair way to where you are going.